Herman Pines
Herman Pines (January 17, 1902 – April 10, 1996) was a Russian Empire–born American chemist best known for his work with Vladimir Ipatieff on the catalytic conversion of high-octane aviation fuel (and innovation credited with helping the Royal Air Force win the Battle of Britain).
[1][2] Because of his scientific contributions, new processes were developed for the isomerization of paraffins, the alkylation of aromatic compounds, and base-catalyzed organic reactions.
[10] After working at routine jobs for a couple of years, he joined Universal Oil Products (now UOP LLC) in McCook, Illinois, in 1930.
Pines retired from the position in 1970,[3] but continued to be scientifically active as a professor emeritus[12] until a few months before his death on April 10, 1996.
[2] Discouraged about faculty opportunities for Jews during the Depression, the three of them left Chicago to settle in Israel[clarification needed] shortly before the outbreak of World War II, but became disillusioned and soon returned to Illinois.
[14] A modest man who tended to emphasize the contributions of others, Pines has nonetheless been described as "one of the towering scientists of this century".
[15] Throughout his career, Pines made significant contributions to the understanding of heterogeneous catalysis and the chemistry of petroleum hydrocarbons.
[20] By working with pure hydrocarbons rather than petroleum fractions, Pines was better able to isolate and understand specific chemical reactions.
"[15] Combining the processes of alkylation and butane isomerization led to the development of high octane fuels for use in aviation gasoline.
[24][25] These methods of preparation were kept secret by the Americans during World War II, but the fuels were made available to the Allies for their Spitfires and Hurricanes, and are said to have given the Royal Air Force an advantage in the Battle of Britain.
They studied a variety of transformations including "polymerization, alkylation, cyclization, additions, eliminations and hydride transfer reactions.
"[26] They made basic discoveries that furthered the understanding of mechanisms involving carbonium ions, carbanions, free radicals, intermediates, thermal reactions, and relationships between catalytic behavior and surface chemistry.
[15][27] Pines studied both acid and base catalysis; catalytic properties of aluminas; and aromatization, dehydrogenation and metal hydrogenation catalysts.
[4][15]: 89 [30][31] His work influenced Nobel winner George Andrew Olah, who was able to chemically stabilize carbocations and further investigate their structure and activity.
[15]: 157 Pines and Ipatieff's discoveries about the catalysis of hydrocarbon reactions laid fundamental groundwork for the oil refining and chemical industries.
Processes involving noble-metal, liquid- and solid-acid catalysts are essential to the production of energy and of widely-used industrial chemicals in the twentieth century.
